Red Is The New Green
by jisburn
Summary: When Lisbon and Mashburn run into each other, Jane is forced to confront his feelings. One-shot, for now.


Disclaimer: If I owned it, you'd probably all be a little happier with the state of Jane and Lisbon... and their children.

A/N: As much as I love Jane and Lisbon as a couple, I have a soft spot for Walter Mashburn. So sue me. This is my first fic, so please read and review. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Jane and Lisbon approached the clubhouse where a gathering of local policemen were waiting to debrief them. A young woman had been shot to death at a country club, her body found lying in the middle of a nearby tennis court.

"I can't sit through the mindless dribble, Lisbon. If you need me, I'll be sniffing the body," Jane said with a childlike excitement.

"Ok, catch up with-" she began, but Jane was already twenty yards away. She'd hardly taken two steps towards the Marin PD before a familiar voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Well, if it isn't Agent Teresa Lisbon."

She turned around, dreading to face the owner of that long-forgotten voice. She greeted him with as much enthusiasm as she could fake in a moment of panic. "Walter… It's been a while."

Mashburn was displeased, but not surprised at her reaction. "Don't worry. I know how awkward it must be to run into your one night stand. It's happened to me once or twice, believe it or not." She didn't get the feeling that he felt the slightest bit of self-consciousness about his phone calls having not been returned. Lisbon couldn't tell if it was a show or not.

"Ah… Kinda makes you wonder if the awkward run-in is worth it for one night of fun, eh?" she said awkwardly, laughing a little.

"It's not worth it, Teresa. We better make it two nights of fun. At least two, I'd say. Three, even."

Lisbon laughed, feeling a little flushed. She hoped her pupils weren't dilating. He'd be looking for that now. But, damn, the man was charming standing there, tall, in that blue turtleneck that only he could pull off. She'd like to pull it off him. Why hadn't she called him back again?

"Walter!" Jane approached, pulling Lisbon back to reality.

_Oh, that's why_.

"Patrick Jane. What, who's dead now?" Mashburn said upon recognizing the consultant.

"A member of your club, apparently," Jane said, looking back and forth between the two, feeling the tension he'd interrupted between them, mouth almost watering at the chance to exploit it.

Lisbon sensed an ambush and tried to escape the inevitable teasing. "Yes, and we really must go investigate that now." She grabbed Jane by the arm and tried to walk away.

Jane, pulled away from her grip and said "What's the rush, Lisbon? The body's not getting any deader. Besides, I think Walter here can help us."

"Jane, we have to talk to the person who-"She paused.

_Oh, please don't tell me…_

"I found the body." Mashburn shrugged.

Jane grinned a little too widely. "And that makes Walter our new best friend."

"Or our worst enemy," She groaned, looking at the charming billionaire. "You know, people drop like flies around you."

"Well, I guess you'll have to find a way to thank me for keeping you employed."

"You can thank _me _for not taking that as an admission of guilt." She quipped.

"Oh, but Teresa, the whole murder suspect thing is so last-year. I'm really more interested in things I haven't experienced," he said, winking.

Lisbon felt flustered for a moment, not knowing how to respond to being pursued by a man she was admittedly still very attracted to while in the presence of the man she was pretty sure she loved but had about a snowball's chance in hell of ever actually being with. The whole thing had gotten out of control, really, what with her barely dating at all. What was she supposed to do? Wait around for Jane to realize his feelings? Like that was ever going to happen…

"Why don't you try… hmm… taking a hint? That would be first for you," she said smiling to keep her comment from sounding too snippy.

Walter feigned being hurt. "Honestly, Teresa, you wound me deeply. You can make it up to me by letting me take you to lunch."

Teresa rolled her eyes. "If it means we can actually discuss the case, I'm down."

"Excellent," he said. "I know the perfect place."

* * *

Jane wandered aimlessly around the crime scene looking for a quiet place to sit and be alone. Cho and Rigsby wouldn't be leaving for another couple of hours, and his only other ride had just gone to lunch with a handsome, charming, billionaire. Jane had suddenly become bothered by an emotion he hadn't felt in over fifteen years. He was jealous.

It was made worse by the fact that Jane himself was at least partially to blame for it. He had fanned the flame between Lisbon and Mashburn far too many times. But it wasn't until he saw the look on her face today that he realized she had actually _slept_ with the man. Deep down, he always thought Lisbon would be stronger than that, but then again, who could blame her?

Jane wasn't about to sit down and compare himself to Walter Mashburn. He was more mature than that. Besides, what was he going to do about it? He couldn't exactly lock Lisbon in a tower until he was ready to get over his issues and be with her. All this time, he'd been thinking of her as unavailable to other men, so blind to her needs that he didn't even see that she'd, in fact, been moving on with her life all this time. Who knows what other men there had been. He wouldn't think about it.

He had slept with Lorelei, after all, as meaningless as that was. So it wasn't exactly like he'd been saving himself for Lisbon either, at least from her point of view. But the truth was that there was no competition and no temptation for anyone else, and if it was up to him, he'd just _be_ with Lisbon. He was the one keeping it all from happening. But he needed closure, and he needed to know that she would be safe…

Jane sat there lost in thought until Cho retrieved him and they headed back to CBI headquarters. While in the car, he managed to compose himself and decided that he'd make light of the whole situation when they got back. He was good at that. He'd tease Lisbon, she'd yell at him, and maybe things could go back to normal. Then he'd retreat to his attic, and deal with the pain alone.

* * *

"Knock, knock," Jane said as he entered her office.

Lisbon barely looked up from her paperwork as he lay down on her couch.

There was a hint of mockery in his voice. "So… Lisbon. How was your date?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to annoy her. It wasn't a _date_, and he knew how she'd feel about him calling it that.

"Jane, is there a reason, you spent the entire time you were at the crime scene catnapping? As if you don't do enough of that here."

"Well, we couldn't all be at lunch. I would've gone with you, but it looked like you and Mashburn had plenty to discuss. Or is it _Walter_ now?" he said, amused at himself. _Nice touch_.

"Oh, please." She wasn't taking his bait.

"Don't try to hide anything from me, Lisbon. Your attraction to handsome, charming, manipulative men is glaringly obvious."

She almost choked on her coffee. She thanked God Jane was lying down facing away from her because the look on her face must have screamed that he had just hit a nerve.

"I'm working, Jane. Why don't you try doing the same some time."

It wasn't a question. He got up, smoothed his suit with his hands, and headed to the door making sure to wink at Lisbon on the way out. His work here was done.

She rolled her eyes, but knew that he was so right. Damn, she _was_ attracted to those qualities. And it didn't take a mentalist to see that both Jane and Mashburn had them. But somehow, Jane's pointing out what made he and Mashburn similar made their differences that much more obvious for Lisbon. Why she loved her consultant, and not the billionaire.

Surely Jane knew how she felt? She found it terribly unlikely that after nearly a decade of working side-by-side, her feelings for him weren't obvious. No, they were _glaringly obvious._

_Then what's the harm in saying it out loud? _She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

It was late by the time she finished the remainder of her paperwork. She walked out of her office and took a quick peak into the bullpen to see if Jane was on his couch. Seeing he was missing, she headed up to the attic.

* * *

Jane was lying on his make-shift bed in the attic facing the window. He was still thinking about Lisbon and Mashburn, only now with less focus on Mashburn. He knew they wouldn't last. But that didn't mean he himself would be with Lisbon anytime soon. He should probably just lay off her about the whole thing, and he was sure she'd let him know that soon enough…

"Hey," Lisbon said, suddenly appearing next to him.

"Can't you knock, woman?" he said sitting up, feeling a little transparent as the very person he'd been thinking about was now standing just inches away.

She sat down next to him and said, "Eh… figure I owe you." She paused for a second and said "Listen. I—"

"Lisbon, I already know what you're gonna say—"

"No… I don't think so." She took a second to compose herself before continuing. "In the last few years, I haven't dated a lot. I know the general consensus is that I work too hard and don't spend enough time on my social life, but the truth is…"

_It was now or never_. She looked into his deep blue eyes, but all she saw there was confusion. As if he had no idea what she was babbling about. _He thinks I've come up here to yell at him about Mashburn. _The man always found a way to infuriate her.

"Dammit, Jane. Did you ever think that maybe I'm just a little bit caught up on _you_?" She blurted out, instinctively covering her face with her hands when the words escaped, a vain attempt to keep him from looking at her.

But he couldn't do anything but stare. For once, Patrick Jane was at a loss for words. All he could manage to mutter was "Teresa…"

Feeling the weight of what she just said, and a bit embarrassed, she stood up and tried to put the awkwardness out of its misery. "So, there, it's out there, and I can see that I've put you in a weird position. I'll be downstairs if you need me." She started to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Don't go. Maybe we should talk about this."

All she could think was that she was going to have to hear him say that he didn't feel the same way, that she was a nice person, blah , blah… "Please, Jane. Don't draw this out," she said, still unable to bring herself to look at him. She was clearly hurt that he hadn't reciprocated her feelings, but he hadn't been able to find the perfect words for her.

"Please, Teresa." He patted the spot on the bed next to him, and she sat down reluctantly, not at all expecting the words that came out of his mouth. "This isn't exactly how I imagined this conversation going, but I'm not at all disappointed that we're having it. Because I'm pretty much, without a doubt..." He paused.

Lisbon could barely breathe. _He's without a doubt what? Sworn off of feisty, petite brunettes?_

"I'm in love with you."

Now she really couldn't breathe, let alone _speak_. This man that she had known for ten years and loved for the better part of it, this man that she had barely even ever _touched,_ was telling her that he loves her too. She'd heard him say it before, but this time he couldn't pretend not to remember.

"Don't be so surprised," he said.

She smiled with relief, and thought she saw a tear lingering on Jane's face.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence, neither sure of what to say next. Jane simply put his arms around her and pulled her down with him onto his chest. "Just lay with me." She snuggled closer into him, comparing the situation to the many fantasies that she'd had about this moment over the years. It felt every bit as good as she'd imagined.

_No. Better._

It was almost strange, she thought, that she was this close to Patrick Jane, but it felt right. She had no delusions that this meant that they were a couple. She didn't even expect so much as a _kiss_. And she could live with that, for now.

"Don't think this means you can call me Teresa in front of the team."

"I would never, Teresa."

She punched him in the ribs playfully.

They lay there for a long time, not speaking to each other. Neither wanted to ruin the moment by talking about what their revelations "meant". For now, it was enough for both of them to know that in their own strange little way, they belonged to each other, and when the time was right, when it was safe, they were going to be together in all the ways that they deserved to be.

"I knew you were going to tell me you loved me when you came up here," he said.

"You _did_ not. And be quiet. I'm trying to sleep."


End file.
